scrim67

the temp gauge on my 07 RL on occasion the past week is creeping slowly from its usual position upwards towards the H

it will then go back to its normal position, especially if I turn off the AC.

It's not always doing this just on occasion.

My radiator is full and my overflow resevoir was dry so I added just a little bit of coolant this morning.

Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

scrim

oo7spy

Does it creep up and then randomly go down? That would be a sign of a stuck thermostat. The pressure builds up on one side and forces the thermostat open to let water flow through. If the thermostat is sticking, it will take more heat to build up pressure until it final pushes through, and the temp will go back to normal.

If that is not the case, you may have a leak somewhere that is causing pressure loss. Main culprits would be the radiator cap or hoses. A cap is very cheap and easily replaced on a cool engine. If there is a leak, you will continue to lose coolant but likely will never see it because it escapes as steam. In that case, an everyday mechanic should be able to do a compression test on the system to isolate the issue.

oo7spy

Keep an eye on it and be very careful to not let the guage get near max. The aluminum block is soft and easily warped.

scrim67

when it creeps up I sometimes shutoff the AC and it goes back to normal....however the other scenario also happens where I don't touch the AC and it goes back to normal without ever getting to close to the H.....maybe 3/4 of the way

thanks for the feedback

shahram72

Don't drive the car like this. You can destroy the engine if it overheats. Modern engines just don't survive overheats like all iron ones did long ago. It has to be fixed. Should be thermostat or some sensor that is not kicking on the fans when it should.

oo7spy

If it goes back on its own at 75%, then my bet is on the thermostat. It was an easy fix on the 2G Legend, and I imagine it should be for the RL too.

drolds72

both fans operating as they should be when AC is running?

oo7spy

The drivers fan is for engine/radiator cooling. The passenger fan is for the A/C condenser.

Edit: Just realized that wasn't the OP.

stevieray

That was going to be my question, Ian. The thing I don't like is that he's losing coolant somewhere. As former Legend owners, you and I both know what that points to. I know BHG is very rare in a J35 but it does happen. Let's just hope he's got a bad thermostat/radiator/hoses.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

no one asked if the OP had his timing belt and water pump replaced.

*AHEM* a water pump can cause a leak at its seals...and also, if not pumping coolant correctly, temp gauge rises.

if not this, then head gaskets.

oo7spy

The water pump is definitely an important route to consider, but to me, a blown head gasket seems a bit of a stretch unless the car overheated before. What would damage it under normal conditions?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I believe our head gaskets are metal.
I changed mine, but cant remember.

so, yes you're correct in a way that the head gaskets wont degrade over time.

01acls

SCRIM67, Your rad cap could be defective and not holding full pressure. When that happens coolant will steam out of the over flow tube and evaporate. When the car cools down it will siphon the coolant from the over flow tank leaving it empty.

Once the coolant gets low the temp gauge will cycle from normal to warn or hot. Depends on how much coolant is left in the system.

Look for a tell at the rad cap where the over flow hose connects to the radiator. There will be dry coolant there. What happens is the steam builts up pressure equal to the cooling system and then the over flow hose balloons and releaves the pressure and coolant from that connection.

Look at the cap and see if it's defective? If in doubt replace it.

Ratheruneeq

After owning nothing but g2 legends for the last 2 years i think id have a heart attack if I seen that on a kb1.... get in that shit asap... dont skimp out. Oem everything tstat, rad cap, hoses and coolant.

Ratheruneeq

Last 15 years*

Ratheruneeq

God i cant wait to get past my 15 days i need that edit option like a mofo.... i always forgot words or misspell lol

stevieray

Were you over on acuralegend.org? What was your S/N? I'm stevieray over there. BTW, I agree with everything that's been said particularly the WP/TB, hadn't considered that. I've always been so anal about keeping mine up to date, I forget that other people are not so good about it. It's just really unusual for a J35 to overheat.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

its unusual, but it can happen.
plenty of TL'ers have had their J35 over heat, because of negligence

stevieray

I'd think you'd really have to go to sleep on maintenance for a J35 for it to overheat. What's the main culprit, overall cooling system maintenance or something specific? On Legends, we finally determined that it was usually either cracked radiator top tanks or a totally blocked EGR system. The failure was almost always #6 cylinder, sometimes #3.

Ratheruneeq

Stevie Ray. Yes sir. I was on .com since 01 and transitioned over to .org eventually.
Name on .com was "Uni-versal" .org "BeyondMeasure" just had my black 5spd coupe totaled by a dick who drove through a stop sign and finally graduated into a kb1...

stevieray

I remember you. Welcome to the Big Boy Club. Quite a different car from the KA8, isn't it? Still an Acura & still a Legend, tho. Glad you're here.

oo7spy

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

same thing you guys see over here on the RL side, improper cooling maintenance.

i mean, it can happen.

I accidently poured gasoline instead of a oil+gas mix into my 2-cylce Leaf blower.
so, anything can happen.

Ratheruneeq

Thanks stevie. Certainly looking forward to this new "legend" experience. Would like to one day park a 95 LS 6spd coupe in the garage or a 95 Nsx.

stevieray

The '95 KA8 would be nice but give me another '97-01 NA1 NSX. I absolutely loved my '97.

scrim67

Well over the past two weeks or so I've had two mechanics check it out and had one of them replace the thermostat

Neither of them found anything wrong.

Vehicle is still going to about 3/4 towards H in traffic then goes back to normal.

I guess I'll just keep an eye on it

Thanks for all the suggestions

Scrim

01acls

Check the rad/ac condenser for blocked fins. Check in front and inbetween components, like condenser to rad/rad to fan shroud. Make sure passages are clear and not clogged.

Ratheruneeq

Make sure you dont have a g2 legend engine under the hood. Lol
No but in all seriousness. In this particular case, id take the extra precaution and drop it off at the dealership for a thorough fine tooth inspection. The cooling system is a huge deal. If your headgasket isnt seeping or cracked you want to make sure it doesnt ge that far. Nip the problem at the bud. DO NOT drive it like that!

stevieray

I swear it sounds like there's there's air in the cooling system or the fans are not coming on. If it's air, how did it get there? There's only so many ways that can happen. I'm like my Legend brother here, sounds like you are trying to troubleshoot a G2 Legend instead of an RL. Have you done a pressure test on your radiator? Cracked top tanks can cause air to be drawn in and make it overheat.

This is not something you want to ignore or diagnose on the cheap. Hate to say this but either get it to the best technician your local Acura dealer has or the best indie Honda/Acura mechanic in your area and let them keep it until they find the cause. Maybe a hydrocarbon test is needed here.

I'm running out of ideas---

scrim67

well as those of you who followed this thread I just wanted to give you a sad update and also thank everyone who participated and helped me learn a valuable lesson.

After having two local mechanics tell me nothing was wrong and I was proactive and based on advice on this board I did replace the thermostat as a preventitive measure "tragedy" struck Monday night as i drove to my fantasy football draft.

Basically I blew a gasket!!

Lesson learned.

When I called two local Acura Dealerships and was told they were backed up for days I should've left it there instead of continuing driving it.

I should've listened to the advice and even after getting it looked at and the thermostat replaced stop driving it but I didn't and learned a relatively expensive lesson.

I am going on vacation next week so I figured i'll bring it to the dealership while I'm away....BAD DECISION

So I think this is a no brainer....the estimate at the dealership is over $5,000.

My vehicle is a 2007 depaxed with almost 170k miles.

My instinct tells me not to have the work done and get a new vehicle.

Your thoughts?

Thanks again.

scrim

rlerman

Head gasket is $5k to replace?? Or do you need a new engine because the block warped from heat?

With that kind of mileage, I would not pay that kind of money for a repair. Sell it as is or part it out.

scrim67

I've gotten a few offers from mechanics and I think I'll be able to get about $1500 cash which I'm going to probably take and move on

Scrim

rlerman

Parts are worth way more than that.

scrim67

Well I just got offered $1800 cash so I'm gonna to cut my losses and most likely take it

It's been a long day

rlerman

According to kbb, assuming your car is in good condition, private party sale would be about $7200. If you got 1800 and the repair is $5k, you did ok, other than you are out $5k, which I feel bad for you. I still think parts are worth a lot more than 1800, but then you'd have to store the car and dismantle it.

scrim67

It's done.... Just walked away with $1800 cash

I may have rushed this whole thing but with other stuff going on in my life right now I felt it was the best move for me

For what it's worth the estimate was $5900 as their where other items needed to be done not including a timing belt

Scrim

shahram72

I'm sorry scrim, I think you made the right decision. It's a shame modern engines do not handle being overheated, not even once.

Ratheruneeq

Theyre not supposed to overheat though. Thats the point though, much less be driven like so.

shahram72

What do you mean? Anything can fail from the worst to the best of cars. Of course, you should not drive it like that. Oil pressure or water temp means PULL OVER NOW! I made it easy for my wife. Orange light on dash means call me, Red means pull over now even on the freeway first! I really wish we could have got the root cause of this problem. As much as can fail on cars I am amazed how much does not fail with all the moving parts and circuits. It's amazing when you think about it. Now, I've been there with my old Ford truck. Thing was "Honda" reliable until one day I went to start it and bang! coolant leaked into combustion chamber and snapped the connecting rods. If I had stayed current on the forums I would have known about the issue and known that occaisional burbling on startup meant a failed intake gasket. (Ford's second time with this problem) and would have spent the $350 to get it replaced. Cars are expensive, you can't afford not to keep up and be an expert on your make/model. A few years ago, I owned an excellent Mazda 626 with the ford CD4E transmission which had a tendency to overheat and fail. Mine was a later model with very few failures reported, but I kept on it and checked and sniffed the tranny oil weekly and changed it yearly. Never had a problem and it went 130K miles when I sold it. The failures were happening at 60-80K. Gotta stay on top of weak points. But the RL does not have a coolant system weak point that I have heard of. It's a moot point now for the OP, but we are all trying to learn something here. I think for many of us with an older RL and engine or tranny failure means a scrapped car. In my truck, $3000 later I had a Ford remanufactured engine which is serving the new owner great, but on an Acura? Forget it. $3000 might get you a used engine, then there's another $1000 for installation at least.

stevieray

Wow. $5K for a head gasket job is a raping of massive proportions, I've had 2 of them done on Legends for right at $2K each and that was with parts. Did you look at getting a J35 out of a junker and just doing a swap? Here is an eBay auction for a JDM J35 and transmission for $1499. Another $1000-1500 to a good local Honda/Acura tech for installation and you'd have been good to go.

Hope you haven't porked yourself but IMHO, you did. Unless you just like buying cars, you're usually better off getting one fixed especially a Honda product. I'd be willing to bet you'll pass your old RL on the road in the near future.